bigbear3764 mentioned both here in the forums and in PMs we've been exchanging about wanting to up flesh out the Illinois mapping/editing wiki section. Having a bit of spare time and desire to dig into wiki construction, I got the ball rolling.

Here is the result. Take a look and let's discuss how to make it better.

Most of the layout and content ideas were gleaned from the Connecticut wiki. I did preserve much of the original page as a new page called Illinois Reference Information. It has redundant info on other pages so needs a bit of work but I didn't want to toss it all out just yet.

The following sections/pages contain mainly placeholder information (or 1-2 real examples) so still need a fair bit of work:

Illinois Roads by TypeIllinois ConstructionIllinois To Do

The Connecticut folks did a great job detailing guidelines for each landmark type. I made a few changes to reflect differences between states (e.g. we have tollways so need to decide what to do about toll booths, our DMV is the Secretary of State, etc.) but we need to discuss further.

I have updated the freeway road type section with the list of Interstates shown on the IDOT site. I followed it up with data from the respective Wikipedia pages regarding toll/non-toll and naming info. Let me know if you see anything wrong or can provide more info.

Also, info regarding mapping of Toll Booth and Train Station landmarks along with a section about Time Restricted Turns (including reversible roads) has been added/updated.

Love it! This will be a great place to send new editors as opposed to just linking to the Wiki.

One thing I've been doing is mapping parking lots of commercial areas that are next to major roads. I was noticing a lot of false traffic reports and realized they were being caused by cars parked in the lots next to those major roads. I don't snap the parking lots to the roads, but it serves the purpose of suppressing the error if someone is in the parking lot.

According to the CT guidelines I shouldn't be doing this, but I feel like it serves a useful purpose. Let me know what you think.

One thing I considered adding was a name for schools. It helps in the client to see the name of a school and they are a common destination. I'm open to limiting this to larger schools such as high schools and colleges, if necessary, since smaller elementary schools may not show up on the client.

Also, I'm assuming private schools should be included as well. I can modify the Wiki to specify that if we agree it's necessary.

dmiller1984 wrote:Love it! This will be a great place to send new editors as opposed to just linking to the Wiki.

One thing I've been doing is mapping parking lots of commercial areas that are next to major roads. I was noticing a lot of false traffic reports and realized they were being caused by cars parked in the lots next to those major roads. I don't snap the parking lots to the roads, but it serves the purpose of suppressing the error if someone is in the parking lot.

According to the CT guidelines I shouldn't be doing this, but I feel like it serves a useful purpose. Let me know what you think.

Those parking lots are probably also having a navigation problem (the pin being closer to the major road than the road the building is actually on) & parking lot roads would be a solution to that problem as well as the false jams.

dmiller1984 wrote:Love it! This will be a great place to send new editors as opposed to just linking to the Wiki.

One thing I've been doing is mapping parking lots of commercial areas that are next to major roads. I was noticing a lot of false traffic reports and realized they were being caused by cars parked in the lots next to those major roads. I don't snap the parking lots to the roads, but it serves the purpose of suppressing the error if someone is in the parking lot.

According to the CT guidelines I shouldn't be doing this, but I feel like it serves a useful purpose. Let me know what you think.

Those parking lots are probably also having a navigation problem (the pin being closer to the major road than the road the building is actually on) & parking lot roads would be a solution to that problem as well as the false jams.

I personally would prefer to see parking lot roads used (per the Best Practice) instead of the Parking Lot landmark. Driving around in (sub)urban environments leads to a sea of grey in the client with all of the strip mall, office building, etc. parking lots I've been seeing. I know they suppress taffic jams but a judicious set of PLot roads can do the same and keep the client view cleaner.

dmiller1984 wrote:Love it! This will be a great place to send new editors as opposed to just linking to the Wiki.

One thing I've been doing is mapping parking lots of commercial areas that are next to major roads. I was noticing a lot of false traffic reports and realized they were being caused by cars parked in the lots next to those major roads. I don't snap the parking lots to the roads, but it serves the purpose of suppressing the error if someone is in the parking lot.

According to the CT guidelines I shouldn't be doing this, but I feel like it serves a useful purpose. Let me know what you think.

Those parking lots are probably also having a navigation problem (the pin being closer to the major road than the road the building is actually on) & parking lot roads would be a solution to that problem as well as the false jams.

Don't go too crazy on the Parking Lot Roads... Just having the main roads will suppress all those jams (and automatic missing road too).

I personally would prefer to see parking lot roads used (per the Best Practice) instead of the Parking Lot landmark. Driving around in (sub)urban environments leads to a sea of grey in the client with all of the strip mall, office building, etc. parking lots I've been seeing. I know they suppress taffic jams but a judicious set of PLot roads can do the same and keep the client view cleaner.